After First Year, Smithsonian Chief has Big Ideas

WASHINGTON, September 5, 2009, Associated Press — Wayne Clough pulls a thumb-sized computer flash drive from his pocket and marvels at how many of the Smithsonian Institution's millions of objects can be captured on it.

The device holds sounds from endangered frogs, images from an archive of Depression-era paintings, a 360-degree view inside a Concorde supersonic jet and much more. The mini archive reflects one way the former engineer, now head of the institution, aims to share the collection of the world's largest museum complex online with more people than ever before.